Herbal Medicine

The link between use of marijuana and anxiety has been a controversial one, with some experts saying the drug is associated with anxiety as well as depression and bipolar disorder while users often claim it relieves anxiety. Now scientists have made a new find showing how marijuana reduces anxiety, but there’s a catch.

Senna is a herb used to treat constipation due to its natural laxative effects. The leaves and the pods of senna are used to make alternative medicine remedies and can be found as liquid extracts, capsules and tablets. Other effective part of the plant are the roots, so the medicine is also found in the form of dried root .

Water soluble cinnamon extract has been shown to increase insulin sensitivity and modulate macrophage activation, a desirable trait for the management of obesity or atherosclerosis. Our present study investigated whether cinnamon water extract (CWE) may influence the differentiation of monocytes into macrophages and the activity of macrophage scavenger receptors, commonly observed in atherosclerotic lesions.

Many natural therapies can be very helpful for pain. My three favorite pain relieving herbals are willow bark, Boswellia, and tart cherry. All three of these can be found in combination in the End Fatigue “Pain Formula” by Integrative Therapeutics. Begin with 2-4 tabs 2-3 times a day as needed until maximum benefit is achieved (~ 4-6 weeks) and then you can use the lowest effective dose. Let’s look at these three herbals.

In a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trial involving 88 subjects affected by diabetes, supplementation with 3 one-gram capsules of ginger powder for a period of 8 weeks was found to benefit patients with type 2 diabetes, reducing fasting blood glucose levels (decreased 10.5%) and HbA1c levels and improving the quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI), as compared to a placebo group that experienced a 21% increase in FBG.

There are numerous alternative treatments for ADHD – some more effective than others. Chinese herbal medicine has roots that go back thousands of years. Surprisingly enough, when modern studies test many of the traditional Chinese herbs used to treat ADHD and other medical conditions, the studies find that the Chinese treatment methods are highly effective at treating the condition they are designed to cure.

In a study involving healthy middle-aged men (56 years), healthy young men (27.3 years) and young men with two or more CV risk factors (27.3 years), consumption of almonds (50 g/d) for a period of 4 weeks was found to be associated with improvements in flow mediated dilation (FMD) and significant reductions in diastolic blood pressure, while systolic blood pressure was only reduced in healthy men.

Reishi mushrooms, also called lingzhi mushrooms, are a species of medicinal mushroom characterized by their kidney-shaped cap and tough texture. Though widely appreciated throughout the countries of their native Asia, reishi are especially venerated in China. In fact, practitioners of ancient Chinese medicine have been prescribing reishi for a host of medical conditions such as high blood pressure and fatigue for at least 2,000 years. Even today, reishi are held in high regard by the Chinese, and have retained their traditional nickname, the “Mushrooms of Immortality.”

Anti-inflammatory plant estrogen compounds found in soy and flaxseed were associated with less asthma and allergic disease, a national observational study showed. People with the highest urinary levels of phytoestrogens from flax and soy had the lowest risk, Jessica Savage, MD, MHS, of Brigham and Women’s and Harvard in Boston, reported here at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology meeting.